


Through the Looking Glass

by oddjobsiete



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, djeeta shows up to give advice, other eternals appear for a bit, siete goes through a mini crisis, siete in cosplay as himself, spacetime shenanigans, vaguely implied siesix but they're 5 miles deep in denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23829769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddjobsiete/pseuds/oddjobsiete
Summary: A strange mirror gives Siete a peek into the life of the Eternals in another world, another time.Aka. Siete goes to comic con.
Relationships: Siete | Seofon & Six | Seox (Granblue Fantasy), Siete | Seofon/Six | Seox (Granblue Fantasy)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	Through the Looking Glass

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic (a milestone!?) it's just... a lot of siete// there was meant to be more siesix but maybe next time...
> 
> hope u enjoy reading as much as i did writing it!

Siete hummed as he polished his favourite sword. No one else had turned up yet, but he decided to wait a few extra minutes just in case.

While they flew under the same banner of strongest in the skies, the Eternals were only a crew in the loosest sense of the word. Each and every one of them was a powerhouse in their own right and often acted alone.

It made sense _logically_ . It was just more efficient that way. They could be in more places, put out more fires. Some of them had specific places they wanted to protect like Stardust Town, others had grown too used to the solitary life. _Personally_ , Siete thought it would be nice if they hung out more outside of work. Even their base was more of a pit stop than a home despite the welcome mat he had installed near the front door.

Siete did his best to gather all ten of them to spend time together (abusing his authority under various pretenses). The swordmaster could easily count on one hand the number of times he had succeeded. Preventing potential catastrophes shouldn’t count. Okay, you could argue it was an effective team-building activity, but honestly what he yearned for was something with less stressful stakes.

_Was a spot of barbeque and gossip too much to ask for?_

“If that’s the real reason for your ‘urgent’ matter, I will leave right now.” A pair of familiar boots crunched to a stop on the gravel in front of him.

 _Did he say that out loud?_ Whoops. As he looked up, a rush of warmth and accompanying wide grin spread over Siete’s face as he saw one of his favourite people. “Si~x! But you just got here.”

“What’s the mission, Siete? If you called me just to have someone to drag around this festival that’s being set up, I swear-” Six wore a mask to hide his expressions from the outside world, but he never bothered to hide his exasperation for Siete.

“It isn’t,” Siete promised. Maybe he had cried wolf one time too many? “Well, not directly. An old mine collapsed and revealed the entrance to some ruins beneath the town. The mayor was worried it might contain a threat that could affect the festival.” He paused to wink, “...though if we complete the mission in good time, a celebratory snack wouldn’t go amiss, eh? I hear this place’s specialty fried dough balls are to-die for.”

Six uncrossed his arms and turned to go. “Count me out. I should think you’re more than capable of investigating something of this scale. Otherwise, you should consider finding a new occupation.”

“No no no, Six it could be really, really dangerous!” He was delighted that his patient fishing had finally resulted in a bite, and he wasn’t about to let it get away. Six, the unwitting fish, expertly dodged Siete’s grabby hands. “Aren’t we friends? If I go missing down there you’ll never know what happened! It’ll haunt you forever!”

“If we were friends you wouldn’t drag me down with you.” Six pointed out, deliberately not meeting Siete’s patented puppy dog eyes. Finally, he gave a resigned sigh that Siete knew meant the erune had tacitly agreed. “I will _not_ be attending the festival.” 

* * *

“Don’t you think a lot of these patterns look like rabbits?” Siete mused. There was a clang as something fell onto the ground.

“Stop playing around.” Six jumped at the sound, ears twitching. “It could be dangerous.”

“Hey! I’m seriously investigating,” Siete ran a finger along the strange patterns on the dusty tabletops, “You know I’m always careful.” His other hand rested casually on his sword, confident he could intercept anything that might suddenly jump out.

The laboratory had long been abandoned but it never hurt to be careful. Monsters could’ve moved in rent-free and, more often than not, ancient scientists left behind nasty surprises to guard their research. Sometimes said surprises _were_ their research, or whatever was left of them. It was kinder then to put them out of their misery.

The books were full of symbols similar to the ones on the table, journals with messy undecipherable scribbles covering the pages and crude diagrams of rabbits in holes. _Were there any scientists who had neat handwriting?_ There were various delicate-looking metal instruments set out that Siete decided not to touch in case he broke anything. Inside one of the drawers was a crystal ball that swirled with dizzying colours when shook.

“I’m going to take a look over there and check for mutant rabbits,” he said, leaving the desk behind in a bigger mess than it had been before he arrived. Six merely grunted to show that he’d heard.

The lamps flickered on as Siete cracked open the door, leading to a room filled with yet more doors. Except these didn’t seem to go anywhere. Maybe they were meant to keep things in.

Behind each smaller door was the same strange contraption. Various guesses ran through Siete’s mind but he couldn’t be certain. They didn’t do anything when he prodded them and pressed the buttons. The mayor would be glad to hear they were dormant. Dusty mirrors lined the opposite wall, and of course he had to reach out and touch those too. In retrospect, a very bad idea. But then again, he’d always been that cocky kid who played with matches until he got burnt.

The dust was thick, thick enough to make several dust bunnies. An army of bunnies if Siete were so inclined, and if he weren’t in the middle of a mission. For lack of better options he ended up using the inside of his Eternals cape to clear it away. (The outside of the cape was _white._ Which idiot thought of that? Oh wait.)

When it was clean enough to see his reflection, somehow… Siete felt compelled to touch his face. For someone who was so confident in his appearance, he rarely went near mirrors. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he didn’t like examining himself for too long. But he knew it wasn’t normal for them to ripple like that.

He jerked backwards but it was too late. There wasn’t enough time for him to scream for help before a force latched on and yanked him sharply towards the mirror.

Was it painful? No, not really. He’d experienced much worse. It was definitely uncomfortable though, like some giant entity using its thumb and finger to pinch his soul right out of his body. Siete’s eyes snapped shut to brace for impact. Milliseconds later his forehead hit something solid. In the back of his mind, he heard Six’s dry voice intone, “ _I told you so._ ”

_CRACK_

* * *

Siete blinked, disorientated. His body, trained through years of battle, instinctively went for his weapon even when his mind had yet to catch up. At that moment he knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Siete’s swords had traversed the skydoms, gone through multiple hells with him. He would even go as far as to call them his closest companions, though he tried not to when he was within earshot of his fellow crew members. He knew every inch, every nook and groove of his weapons, and immediately noticed that the weight was off. Then he went to touch the blade and it _bent_.

What the hell?! In a rare moment, Siete’s face was filled with question marks.

Why had his perfectly good sword been replaced by cardboard? The handle was made of squishy foam and someone had painstakingly painted cyan markings onto the surface, which would only be useful in a fight if his opponent was unarmed and it was really really dark.

He looked back towards the mirror and startled. The Siete that stared back at him looked younger. He had less wrinkles on his face, slight bags under his eyes and... had he put on weight? He checked under his armour- again, cardboard- and his face fell when he touched the soft mass there. Maybe he didn't have muscles as prominent as.Okto's but he at least used to have a six pack okay, a six pack!

They said good things came in threes. It made sense that bad things would do the same. He was still reeling from that double-blow when someone behind him called his name.

Siete turned to see an all-too familiar face from his foggy past.

Oh no.

Nonononono. That was impossible! _But_ , his brain reminded him, since he became one of the Eternals, he had seen a lot of impossible things. Threats to the sky, fought off one by one. Skydwellers triumphing over primal beasts, concepts closer to gods in their own right. And all his senses were telling him the person standing in front of him was the real deal.

Siete did the only thing he could think of to do when his ghosts were staring him right in the face. He made a choked out ugly laughing noise, and ran. Shoving his way through the door, through the crowd and outside where he could finally take a deep breath.

* * *

The sun was blindingly bright. The sky was blue as usual. The wind felt wrong on his skin. Warm. Too warm. Siete sat lazily on the sidewalk with his chin in his hands, staring at the people in colourful outfits heading into the main building.

He calmed down quickly after the previously undignified retreat. It was surprisingly easy when he stopped thinking about _that person_ and just focused on the logical facts. He was good at that. Compartmentalising.

The mirror was some kind of teleportation device. It teleported his mind, but not his body. He was in the middle of some kind of festival, where people dressed up as fake warriors? As far as he could tell, none of the various swords being swung around were real.

The festival was called a “comic convention” - or comic con, for short. And sometimes Siete did like to play the fool. A certain grey-haired, grumpy erune might’ve called it karma he ended up there.

“Oopsy daisy. That’s enough sulking.” Siete stretched and got up to his feet, grunting as several parts of his body that shouldn’t click shamefully did. Moping never got him anywhere.

He really should try using the mirror to get back again. Six would never admit it but he would be worried if Siete never woke up. And what would the rest of the Eternals do without him? Uno would have to step back up and that just wouldn’t do. They might have to recruit another person… he cut that thought off right there. Someone else prying the homemade mantle off his unconscious body chilled his blood more than being stranded in sky-knows where.

Of course he would be missed, but the safety of the skies was more important. The Eternals wouldn’t leave a space open for sentimental reasons. He struggled not to compile a list of potential candidates for who would inherit the position of best swordsman in the skies after him.

_Come on. Get it together, Siete._

That was when he saw her, in a purple cardigan and long skirt. She was taller, but still on the short side of human standards. Siete had noticed there didn’t seem to be any other races like draphs, erunes or harvins around.

The elegant lady was human but the face was unmistakably... "Niyon!" Siete shouted, waving at her.

There was an unmistakable sense of relief at seeing another member of the Eternals. How did she get here? Same way as he did? But only Six had answered the call for this particular mission, everyone else was busy.

He was stopped by several people in black suits.

"Move along please, sir."

“Wait, you have to let me through. You don’t understand, Niyon!”

That was how Siete learned, the hard way with his face tackled to the ground, that celebrities in this world had bodyguards, and that Niyon was doing pretty well for herself doing music and something called voice-acting. She did not recognise him.

Siete should’ve been bothered that his cardboard armour was distinctively more crumpled than it was before. Except a new thought had appeared in his mind. If Niyon was here, then perhaps, the others would be too. And just like that, he picked up the matches again.

* * *

He found Uno first, one of his oldest friends, browsing through a replica weapons stall with a critical eye. Siete approached the little old man with a complicated feeling. He had learned his lesson from Niyon, ribs still aching as evidence, and didn’t dare to barge straight in this time.

Instead, he struck up a natural conversation with Uno about swords. In the process, he learned through indirect means that there were no threats such as monsters in this world and no magic (though people yearned for the concept of it). Instead, the art of making weapons that specifically couldn’t kill or harm was its own art form.

“What is the point of a sword that cannot pierce?” Siete wondered.

“What is the use of a painting apart from the joy we derive from appreciating its beauty?” Uno replied, his eyes twinkling and devoid of the sorrow they usually held. “Of course, it is admiration for the skill and craftsmanship of the artisan.”

Siete cast an eye over the replicas on the wall and had to admit some of them were pretty well made. If he didn’t know better, he might’ve thought the blades were forged from true metal. _Would such replicas house a sword spirit?_ There were a lot of zeros on the price tags though, far more than what he found in various pockets on his costume and suddenly his dinky cardboard sword made a lot more sense.

As he roamed around the huge venue, he spotted five more members of the Eternals. Fif on the shoulders of a man who wasn't Okto; they were joined by a woman with Fif's red hair as they passed by a stall selling candy. When she saw the big lollipops, the youngest Eternal’s eyes lit up like the heart on the top of her toy staff. When her parents wouldn't buy her the biggest lollipop, she threw a tantrum until they caved. Siete didn't bother them. The Fif he knew was mature beyond her young age, tempered by the burdens that came with her immeasurable magical talents. This Fif was a normal five year old child, happy and carefree under the protection of her parents.

The twins showed up at the same time, a gaggle of small children around their ankles, and Siete’s heart soared. He was glad that in this strange mundane world they still had each other. Maybe it was because they were twins. There was some mysterious force out there that tied them together. Siete only managed to spot them via Esser's bubblegum pink hair (a difficult feat, he had spotted at least two dozen people with pink wigs). With uncanny instincts, Quatre's head whipped around and met Siete's eyes through the crowd. He heard snatches of conversation as the boy readjusted the fake cat ears on his head and tugged on his sister’s arm. “Come on, let's go… some creep... call security?”

Some things hadn’t changed. Siete chuckled awkwardly to himself and slipped away.

Okto was tucked away in a little stall that sold dainty ceramic sets and traditional tea snacks. The giant man was taciturn as always, white hair tied up in a thick ponytail, but was very gentle with his customers. It was odd to see him without his horns and without Fif clinging to them. He looked bald. Siete nearly voiced that thought and was glad he didn’t when he glimpsed the corner of an imposing tattoo on Okto’s neck. In the end, he bought a box of beautifully packaged biscuits before moving on.

Unsurprisingly, Sarasa was by the food carts, draped in some kind of tiger skin costume. Judging by the amount of empty food boxes at her side, she had been there a while. Siete watched her wolf down a large piece of cake in seconds and changed his mind. For all he knew she might’ve only just sat down. Siete took the opportunity to buy some fried noodles and used the excuse of a lack of tables to join her.

None of them recognised him. Seven down, two to go. With rising urgency, he kept searching. Someone, anyone that he knew with a connection to him like Quatre did with Esser. Someone who he hadn’t already lost back on the other side, because his rope had long frayed and it bothered him more than he let on how often he felt untethered from everything around him.

* * *

The sound of cheering was what finally led him to Song. She held a brightly coloured gun in her hands and was shooting things that appeared on a big box. The crowd around her exploded with each shot that met its mark, and the smile that blossomed on her face was absolutely radiant to match.

The archer who had always been alienated and called a monster for her sharpshooting abilities was in her element here. It was no surprise to Siete when the words HIGH SCORE showed up. Sweat dripping, Song raised her arm in the air in a triumphant pose and she was immediately swarmed by her friends.

Siete found a genuine smile appearing on his own face. “Amazing! You’re amazing, Song!” he joined in with the cheers. Song thought she heard her name being called by an unfamiliar voice, but when she turned around, they were gone.

* * *

“Hey there! Are you okay? You’ve been sitting there for a while now. Niyon’s interview ended like ten minutes ago.” A girl in a pink dress and a badge around her neck that said ‘EVENT VOLUNTEER’ smiled at him. “Are you enjoying the convention?”

The green tea biscuit almost fell out of Siete’s mouth. “Gran?” he spluttered.

“Pardon?” The girl looked confused, then alarmed as some crumbs went down the wrong pipe. She had to put down the stuff she was carrying in order to thump Siete’s back.

“Sorry my bad, you surprised me,” he coughed, eyes watering. Siete had always been good with faces and the resemblance was striking. “You look a lot like someone I know.”

Even if the young airship captain he knew had brown hair and was the opposite gender, they could have been siblings, or even twins. After the first few shocks he had that day, Siete was sure nothing else would shake him. Maybe Gran did have a sibling or some other extended family out there somewhere.

“Thanks for the help, I’m just taking a breather. Been running around all day. And I’m not as good at running as I thought I was haha…” Siete laughed wryly. “I like your outfit though.”

“Thanks! It’s just a closet cosplay I threw together at the last minute. Dress, boots, gloves and bam. I call it fantasy fusion.” She definitely was the spit of Gran when she grinned. “Oh yeah we’re armour buds! Yours looks amazing. Did you make it all yourself?"

"Just. Just the cape." Siete grimaced. He couldn’t claim ownership for the shoddy paper armour, his pride wouldn’t allow for it. At least the mantle was nicely hemmed. If he were a teacher it would be the only part to get a ‘passable’ mark.

The girl, who introduced herself as Djeeta, was very friendly and despite his protests she insisted he take a bottle of water. The reason being, she said as she pointed to her badge, it’d reflect badly on her as part of the event management if Siete fainted from heatstroke. He did feel a lot better after drinking, maybe he had been dehydrated.

“So who’re you meant to be?"

"Siete, Leader of the Eternals. Is that not obvious?" Siete said teasingly. After roaming about all day, he began to realise that some people’s costumes were more well known than others, while others were only recognised by a select few.

“The Eternals?” Djeeta looked embarrassed. “Sorry I don’t know much about all this stuff, you know?” _You and me both_ , thought Siete. “I’m here to help out a friend who doesn’t like crowds. Is that a video game or an anime?”

Siete blinked. Game? The Eternals kept order in the skies. They were a group of the strongest of the strong, a very serious organisation thank you very much. No matter how often accusations of frivolous behaviour were levelled at their leader.

Djeeta was watching him expectantly for an answer so he scratched his head and replied, "Anime." which seemed to satisfy her.

“Do you come to these things alone a lot?” she asked.

“It’s my first time actually. I’ll say it’s been quite the experience.” Siete shrugged. “And I didn’t come alone.”

“You lost them? Yeah this place is huge and the signal sucks.” Djeeta plonked herself down next to him. “I’ve been going around handing out flyers and water. Feels like I walked a marathon.”

“Something like that.” Siete paused. “Actually I’m kinda avoiding them. I let them down and I don’t know how to face them. I was thinking about going home without seeing them again but I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again.”

“Do you often unload deeply personal problems onto strangers you only just met?” Djeeta grimaced.

Siete grinned. “Only occasionally. You don’t have to answer, just treat it as me thinking aloud.”

Djeeta thought for a moment. “All I can say is. Apologise. Acknowledge your wrongs but don’t expect forgiveness, that’s up to them. Say your thing then give them space. Try to be sincere. Oh and don’t forget to apologise for avoiding them, that’s rude.” She reached out to take Siete’s last matcha biscuit. “My consultation fee. I’m rooting for you.”

“That’s good value advice for one biscuit.”

They talked for a while longer. Djeeta shoved a flyer into his hand and left with promises to see him at the after party, and to bring his friend after they made up again. Siete would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious, but it was a shame he had no plans to stick around for that long. 

He was confident his real body would be fine. Six was there with him after all, and the erune was cautious enough not to touch random mirrors in ruined laboratories. Siete just had to find a way to get back and since a short while ago, there had been a slight feeling tugging him towards the washroom where he first appeared. The feeling was getting stronger. It was almost time to go home.

* * *

"Why did you run off like that? I've been trying to call you all day but the signal in here is so bad, nothing sends. I thought we were here to have fun, get over your broken heart? You better have a good excuse for ditching me."

The person Siete had been trying his hardest not to think about all day was understandably annoyed.

"I..." There were times he imagined what he would say if he got the chance. All the feelings he kept bottled up at arm's length surged up and got stuck at his throat. Those lengthy speeches fled his mind.

"I'm sorry."

It was sincere, all he could muster for this person. His voice came out slightly hoarse. He could see the irritation in their eyes giving way to concern. Siete reined back his emotions. There was more he wanted to say but there was no point in saying it. They weren’t truly the person he wanted to apologise to. This was an apology for himself, for failing to protect them.

"Gee, still that bad?” His friend sighed helplessly and mussed his hair. “Chin up. Go splash some water on your face. I’ll take you to the after party, we’ll get pizza, and you are going to get smashed. There's plenty more fish in the sea."

It had never been harder to force his usual smile on his face but something felt right. The tug from the mirror in the cramped little convention toilet was stronger now. Siete could almost hear someone calling his name in a worried tone. _Siete!_

* * *

“Siete!”

Someone was shaking him by the shoulders. Siete gasped, experiencing the uncanny feeling of settling back into his own skin. He was back in the underground laboratory, butt on the cold floor and a steady arm at his back.

"Did it work?" Six was bent over him with a wary expression (Siete could somehow tell, even with the mask on) but scooted away when he sat up. "Don't. Don't come any closer. State your name and a fact about yourself."

Siete felt like someone had played conkers with his head. "Siete, leader of the Eternals. Most handsome man to walk the- Ow!” He rubbed his face and hissed as he pressed too hard on a patch of tender flesh near his jaw. Six huffed a sigh that sounded suspiciously like relief. “What happened? And why does my arm feel so stiff?"

Six looked away, ears subtly flattening. "You were acting strangely. I was forced to pacify you."

"Hmm." Siete grinned. “I was going towards the light. Then I heard the voice of an angel calling me back.” He stretched out his arms for a hug but Six ignored him.

“Be careful getting up.”

Siete noticed that the ground was littered with mirror shards. “It broke? What happened?”

“That should be my line. What did you _do_?”

“Hahaha… well funny story.”

* * *

Siete recounted his adventure, leaving out certain bits and embellishing others. For all Six knew, he’d found himself in an alternate reality and gone on a wild goose chase playing Eternals bingo.

“You and I were best friends! Joined at the hip, matching outfits. You even had funny cardboard claws.”

"Liar." Six's voice was monotone, without any inflections, but it almost sounded accusative. “You didn't find me.”

"How did you- Well it couldn’t be helped. There were thousands of people in the hall and the same outside too! You're far too good at hiding from me. I was only.casually looking around."

Six caught onto this lie pretty quickly too. _Thousands of people but you managed to find 8 specific individuals by casually looking around? Do you think I’m an idiot?_

Siete had looked. He would never admit it out loud but he had looked pretty hard for Six, chasing after masked characters trying to snatch a glimpse of their face, checking out dark corners where he thought Six would lurk. He even followed a large blue fox to a gathering of people dressed up like anthropomorphised animals. None of the silver wolves turned out to be Six but there was a friendly red lizard- sorry, dragon- who was shoving apples into their fake head with gusto.

"No. It sounds about right. Someone like me wouldn't exist in such a heaven."

"I wouldn't call it heaven. Heaven wouldn't cram so many sweaty people into an indoor market to bake. Heaven wouldn’t have people painted grey, marching around and honking their heads off." Siete huffed. "Besides, would you willingly go to a place like that? The crowds were bigger than any festival I've been to. Mirror you was probably at home, composing heartfelt poetry about the darkness of the world."

Six grunted. “A world with no monsters or conflict sounds idyllic. Why didn't you stay?"

Yes. Why didn't he? Because it was like a dream too good to be true? In that world, that person was still by his side. There was peace. He could safely walk around with a useless sword because there was no reason for it to be stained with blood.

The thought of staying had never crossed Siete’s mind.

Over there, the Eternals, people who he considered family, might have been scattered, but they were complete, happier than anything he could ever do for them. He wasn’t needed there. Which conversely made him realise, he was needed here to fight and to build up bridges brick by brick.

There were a lot of things too heavy to spill out at once, and Siete only very, very occasionally unloaded deeply personal problems onto the people around him. So he could only summarise, once again, and say the most important part of the truth disguised with a passing shrug and dopey smile.

"Of course, it was because I couldn’t leave you."

**Author's Note:**

> we don’t know much about siete’s past yet (give us more eternals backstories please cygames i love the juutenshu) but i imagine he has his own share of regrets... tySM [gar](https://twitter.com/cata_tilde) for superb edits and motivating me to finish!! ovo)9
> 
> me: this started off silly idk what vibe it ended up with  
> gar: you threw him into the existential crisis washing machine


End file.
